Anderson’s return excites Razorbacks

Saturday

To understand why Mike Anderson left Missouri to become the next basketball coach at Arkansas — and the enthusiasm his hire has stirred here — consider one’s first steps inside Bud Walton Arena.

In Missouri, the state’s iconic basketball figure is Norm Stewart.

In Arkansas, it is Anderson’s mentor and closest friend, the man whom he spent 17 seasons under as a Razorbacks assistant. Despite a bitter separation nine years ago, Bud Walton Arena remains a shrine to Nolan Richardson and the “40 Minutes of Hell” brand that vaulted Arkansas basketball into the national spotlight.

A stack of DVDs of the 1994 national championship game flank the cash register at Hog Heaven. Glass-encased museum displays of jerseys, photos and trophies honor Richardson’s years in Fayetteville while fans watch highlights from his three Final Four teams in the “Nolan Richardson Theater.” And a two-story backlit mural of “The Shot” lords over the concourse.

It is the most celebrated play in Arkansas history. With Anderson watching intently on Richardson’s left side in the final minute of the ’94 NCAA championship game, the photo captures Scotty Thurman’s release of the deep 3-pointer that clinched the Razorbacks’ win over Duke.

Anderson provides a link to that championship era.

“His name, that brings back those positive memories of winning the national title, going to the Final Fours,” said Pat Bradley, a former UA sharpshooter under Richardson and co-host of a sports radio show in Little Rock. “It’s going to be crazy.”

To Corliss Williamson, the former Razorbacks star and current head coach at Central Arkansas, “40 Minutes of Hell” is back.

“The guys who came through in that system really believe in it, and they want our program to get back to the glory days,” Williamson said in a phone interview. “What better way to do it than to get Coach Anderson.”

While Anderson’s departure Wednesday after five seasons at Missouri torched many bridges in Columbia, he is receiving a hero’s welcome throughout Arkansas.

Fans in this state of 2.9 million, where support for Razorbacks basketball is traditionally surpassed only at Kentucky in the SEC, are restless for a winner. Arkansas has made only three trips to the NCAA Tournament since Richardson was fired late in the 2002 season, leading to a steady decline in fan interest. Average paid attendance fell from 17,148 in 2008 to 12,022 last season in John Pelphrey’s final year on the bench.

Arkansas is counting on Anderson, who will be formally introduced this morning at Walton Arena before throwing out the first pitch at the Razorbacks’ afternoon baseball game, to restore the glory.

“It’s just surreal to me,” Bradley said in a phone interview. “I can’t even think about him pacing the sidelines now because you just never thought this day would come considering what we all know happened nine years ago. Just amazing.”

What happened nine years ago is why a minority of boosters reportedly were against the hire of Anderson, fearing it would bring Richardson back into the program.

Richardson’s ugly exit in February 2002 came days after he angrily leveled charges of racism against Arkansas’ administration in a rambling press conference. With his team about to miss the postseason for the first time since 1985, he suggested that if the school would buy out the last six years of his contract, “they can take the job tomorrow.”

Arkansas called his bluff, fired Richardson and made Anderson the interim coach. Anderson went 1-1 and interviewed for the coaching vacancy but was never seriously considered. The school hired Kent State’s Stan Heath.

“When it happened, it was just such a sad deal for anybody that truly cared for Coach Richardson but even for Coach Anderson,” said Blake Eddins, a UA player at the time. “He had put in 17 years at Arkansas — blood, sweat and tears. He had offers for other head-coaching jobs that he turned down because his dream was to be the head coach at Arkansas. It was a painful deal.”

Even as Anderson’s profile rose at UAB and Missouri, his return to Fayetteville seemed unlikely. How could he after Richardson, his confidant, filed a discrimination lawsuit against Arkansas?

“There was some history there,” Bradley said, “and that’s why I commend” UA Athletic Director “Jeff Long for being strong enough to see the whole situation and not let that really affect the decision.”

Richardson did not return multiple calls yesterday. But the former Razorbacks coach told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he will return to Walton Arena, where he’s attended only one game since his firing, only as a fan with “no intentions of being anything more than that.”

“I had my time,” Richardson told the Democrat-Gazette. “Mike’s the new sheriff in town.”

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